The Volcano
by Luigi of the Bakery
Summary: Carnival has finished, and while everyone is helping to clean up, Blu and Jewel stumble across a volcano. Will they warn the people of Rio before it is too late? Or will they hide on their secret island and leave Linda and Tulio to face their doom.
1. Discovery

**Discovery**

**Please don't forget to reveiw I've only got 3 reveiws so far.**

It was a nice sunny day in Rio, and everyone was packing up and cleaning after the Carnival. Blu was nestled it the Blu Bird Sanctuary, and after such an eventful night, he was too tired to get up even though Rafael was shouting in his ear.

"Wake up you lazy bird!" he shouted as Blu drifted in and out of sleep. "Jewel will be waiting for you at the bird nursery!"

At the mention of Jewel's name, Blu sprang to his feet and said:

"Oh Jewel, I miss you sooooooo much. I never want to be apart from you again."

With that he flew out the window into the morning sunshine, with nothing but Jewel on his mind.

"Wait up!" cried Rafael and he too flew out of the window. He caught up to Blu and together they flew to the bird nursery where Jewel was waiting.

* * *

><p>Tulio was inspecting Jewel's wing with a look of satisfaction on his face. Miraculously it had healed in the past few days, and Blu was so happy that Jewel was ok.<p>

"Now that everyone is safe and happy again," said Tulio, "We should go and do our part in the cleaning up after Carnival!"

Blu and Jewel exchanged warm smiles and flew off to explore the jungles of Rio and marvel at the many mountains and monuments it had to offer. Meanwhile, Linda stayed behind with Tulio to help in the cleaning up and Rafael went back to the other birds to help them clean up as well. Blu and Jewel just needed some time alone, since they hadn't got the time to explore Rio before.

Blu still hadn't gotten used to the wind in his feathers and the great joy and freeness of flying. He had only been flying for few days now.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Jewel exclaimed as she looked down at the vast rainforests that surrounded Rio, and the mountains that stood tall and proud in the morning light.

"Not as beautiful as you," Blu replied. Jewel blushed and they flew down to a particular mountain which looked like its peak had been chopped off, and a flat surface remained. It wasn't exactly flat. The middle part looked like there were boulders in it, and was uneven a bit. The two macaws flew down and perched on the highest rock, which was in the centre of the top of the mountain.

"What a good view!" Jewel said as she marvelled at their surroundings in the jungle below.

"I know," said Blu. He pointed to a little house in the middle of Rio, which was hardly visible from their high vantage point. It was only visible because the mountain was so close to the city of Rio, probably the closest. "That's where Linda is now, leaving for the town square," he said.

Just then, there was a loud BUMP, then a CRACK, and everything went quiet. It felt like the world had stopped spinning. Then an eerie hiss broke the silence, and Blu stared as a sort of steam/smoke rose out from behind Jewel.

"Jewel!" shouted Blu over the ever increasing noise. She turned around and screamed, as the rock they were on started to sink. They both took off at the same time, and looked around them. Steam was rising up out of the rocks, and the rock they were on seconds before started to mesh into a sort of liquid. ALL the rocks started to mesh into this liquid, which Blu realised was red and hot. He had read about it in books. It was lava.

That mountain was actually a volcano.

**Yes, I know, the chapters of this story are short**


	2. Capture

**Capture**

Panic rose up in Blu's throat as he realised the depth of the situation. They had to warn the people of Rio, or Rio would be nothing but a big pile of ashes after the volcano erupted.

"We have to get out of here!" said Blu. The two macaws flew down to the forest below. From below nothing seemed wrong about the volcano, so the people of Rio wouldn't have a clue what was going on.

"That was a Lucky escape," said Blu.

"I know, and we have to go warn Rio as quick as we can. The volcano could erupt any minute now!" replied Jewel.

"Yes, we must warn everyone immediately!" said Blu.

"But how?" said Jewel. "No one will listen to us, we're just birds."

"Then we will tell Linda and Tulio. They can then tell everyone else." Blu said with a note of finality in his voice.

Jewel replied anyway: "Good idea. Let's go at once."

As they were about to leave, there was suddenly a rustling in the leaves of a tree, and Blu caught a glimpse of a white feather. Out of the tree flew a white cockatoo that Blu and Jewel knew very well.

It was Nigel.

With a snarl on his face and glee in his eyes, he swooped down on them and grabbed Jewel by the neck.

"AHHHHHH!" she screamed with as much shock and terror that was on Blu's face.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" shouted Blu into the empty rainforest, though it was too late. Jewel and Nigel had already disappeared to somewhere in the Amazon jungle. Blu searched the empty sky with frustration. Jewel had disappeared in the wink of an eye, at the least expected of times.

She was gone, and his heart was broken.

I'll get Nigel for this, he thought.


	3. A Trap Laid

**A Trap Laid**

Nigel rubbed his hands together.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here!" he screeched with a tone of madness in his voice.

Jewel was cramped in a cage which was hanging from the branch of a tree. They were in one of the densest parts of the jungle, surrounded by trees older than Rio itself. Jewel looked down at Nigel, who was mocking her from the forest floor. She was both sad and terrified at the same time.

The past few hours had been consumed by their flight here, to a place far, far away from Rio and all the birds she knew and loved. Nigel had then stuck her here in this awful cage, and she knew that he was waiting for Blu to come and rescue her.

"I hope Blu doesn't fall for this trap," she thought to herself.

This part of the forest was bare of all life, except for the trees, and nothing but Blu or another bird could help her now.

"What do you want with me?" Jewel cried out at Nigel.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough," Nigel squawked as a look of glee crossed his face. "But first we need that other blue macaw here so I can have a full set of blue macaws, even better, _the last ones!_"

"Blu will never fall for you trap," she replied. _"Or will he?" _she wondered to herself.

Jewel didn't know what to do. She knew that if Blu came, he would be facing the same fate as her, for he wouldn't stand a chance against Nigel.

"I just hope he's not stupid enough to walk straight into Nigel's trap without a plan."

That was Jewel's last thought before she collapsed on the floor of the cage and dosed off to sleep, even though it was midday.

**Now this chapter is REALLY short.**

**Please don't forget to reveiw. The more reveiws I get the more encouraged I will be to continue writing.**


	4. The Plan

**The Plan**

Blu needed a plan, and he needed one fast. He was pacing around some trees but still no ideas were coming to his mind after the shock of Jewel's capture. He had no idea where she was, he had no idea how to rescue her. For all he knew she could be dead now, and he was walking aimlessly through the jungle.

"For a start, I'll go to Rafael's place." Blu thought. "He'll have an idea of what to do."

He flew off in search of Rafael.

* * *

><p>Rafael lived in a beautiful canopy of trees, with his wife and kids. Blu flew down to the ground and inspected it for Rafael or his children. Usually they weren't that hard to find.<p>

Blu found Rafael hunched over a log, crying. Something was terribly wrong.

"Are you okay?" Blu asked Rafael, with a bit of worry in his voice. "Where is everyone?"

"They took her!" he screamed. "They took her and all of the children!"

Rafael unfolded his wings so Blu could see a golden watch. It was King Mauro and the marmosets who had taken Rafael's family.

"Nigel," Blu muttered under his breath. "The marmosets wouldn't have done this alone. Nigel probably threatened them into doing his bidding again."

As he realised that the marmosets were working for Nigel and that they had kidnaped Rafael's family and Nigel himself had captured Jewel, he started to realise their motives. Nigel wanted Blu to find him. Nigel wanted to lure Blu into a trap, with Jewel and Rafael's family as the bait. Nigel wanted his revenge. Or were there other reasons why he had captured them?

He wanted Rafael and maybe others to come as well.

* * *

><p>Emerging from his pool of thoughts, Blu grasped Rafael's wing and pulled him upright.<p>

"We need a plan," he said to Rafael.

"You mean...we're going to rescue them?" Rafael replied.

"Of course!" said Blu. "We can't just sit around while Nigel does who-knows-what with our family and friends!"

"It's him again isn't it? Nigel is working with the marmosets," Rafael replied. "Let me guess, Nigel has kidnapped Jewel as well?"

"You guessed correctly," Blu grumbled. Just the thought of Nigel doing something bad to her made him angry.

"Right...let's start the plan then, shall we?" Rafael said enthusiastically.

"I think it's best if we get Nico and Pedro as well, we need all the help we can get." Blu said, though he knew he was just sending more birds to their doom.

They both flew off in search of Nico and Pedro.

Nico and Pedro were happily greeting people in the street.

"Isn't it a wonderful sunny day today?" Nico said. "Perfect for a flight over the mountains."

"We need your help, Nico and Pedro," Blu said and stared into the distance. "Nigel has kidnapped Jewel and Rafael's family."

"Wow! That's very bad news indeed," they replied. "You came to us because you need a plan and some help, right? Well, you've come to the right place!"

"I have just the thing," said Nico. He took off his bottle-top hat, and from a secret compartment hidden in the edge, he pulled out a scroll. Blu wondered how it could fit in such a small space.

It was a map of Rio, including the surrounding jungles and mountains. Because of the recent shocking events, Blu forgot to warn Rafael, Nico and Pedro about the volcano.

"I suspect that Nigel has taken Jewel over there," said Pedro and he pointed to a small area which looked like it had more trees in it than the rest of the map.

"That's the densest part of the Amazon," Nico said in turn. "Not many birds venture out or live there, so it's most likely that Nigel is there, because he wouldn't want to attract too much attention."

"I think your right, though the question is, how do we get there?" asked Rafael.

I'm afraid we can't travel 'as the crow flies' because of this mountainous area over here" Nico pointed to a part of the map. "So we'll have to go around here, which will take more time," he pointed to a passage around the mountains.

"If Nigel can do it, we can too," Blu said.

"Once we get there, we can think of a way to fool Nigel," Rafael contributed.

"Yes," they all agreed in unison.

**This is the longest chapter so far.**

**I'll try to update again as soon as I can.**

**Don't forget to review!**

**~Luigi**


	5. To The Rescue

**To The Rescue**

**Chapter 5 is finaly here!**

**This chapter is the longest chapter in this story so far, so enjoy!**

**The conclusion to the rescue will be in chapter 6, though it's not the end of the story...The Volcano has yet to erupt.**

Blu felt the wind in his feathers and the usual enjoyment he felt when flying. Blu, Rafael, Nico and Pedro had all been flying for half an hour now, and they had only flown half of the required distance. The sun was high in the sky, and Blu could tell that it was a little past midday.

"How much more do we have to keep this up?" shouted Rafael over the roar of the wind.

"We've nearly reached the mountains," Pedro replied.

Blu's stomach started to churn like it did when he had forgotten something.

"Don't be silly," he said to himself. "I haven't forgotten anything this time."

They soon reached the mountains, or close to them anyway. They looked far away with all the mist and you could hardly make out the shape of them through the clouds.

"Let's assess our position," said Nico. "We're halfway there, and so far, so good. Now we need to turn north and fly straight towards Nigel. Of course, we will need a proper plan. I have one. Pedro, you and me will fly above and distract Nigel. Rafael will then rush in and grab King Mauro with his feet and throw him away somewhere far in the trees. All the marmosets will rush to the aid of their leader, so Blu can go in and rescue Jewel and Rafael's family with help from Rafael. Perfect, isn't it?"

"There's only one problem," pointed out Blu. "What about Nigel? What if he comes after you?"

"We have planned something special for that occasion," Nico and Pedro winked at each other. "Now let's put this plan into action!"

They all took off and started the second part of the journey.

* * *

><p>After flying for another twenty minutes or so, they reached Nigel's hiding spot. Nigel wasn't exactly hiding, for you could see him in one of the trees, even from a far distance. His feathers shone in the daylight.<p>

"It's time." Rafael muttered under his breath. Nico and Pedro split up and went to distract Nigel. Blu and Rafael went down to the ground and waited in the hidden canopy of a tree.

* * *

><p>Blu watched Nigel sitting on a log, Jewel's cage directly above him. He wanted to go rush out at Nigel and stab him with a nearby branch and rescue Jewel, though he knew that he wouldn't have a chance, and it would ruin Nico's plan.<p>

Instead he waited, waited, waited for the signal that would tell him to go and rescue Jewel.

Blu heard a shout. It was Pedro, calling down to Nigel. Step 1 of the plan. Nigel immediately spread a wide grin across his face and flew away, towards the source of the shout. Blu could not see any sign of King Mauro, though he signalled to Rafael anyway. This was Rafael's part of the plan, and for the plan to work it needed this part.

Rafael nodded and flew down to the cage that Jewel was in. Step 2 of the plan. Rafael disappeared in the mass of trees, leaving Blu to wait alone.

Minutes passed by, though it felt more like hours for Blu. He sat in the tree, waiting for his cue. After about another 10 minutes had passed, worries started to creep into Blu's mind. What if Rafael didn't find King Mauro? What if King Mauro bested Rafael? Rafael could be lying in a cage somewhere now, or worse, dead.

"And I'm sitting here like a fool in this tree," he thought to himself. "I'm going to see what's going on."

Blu flew down from the tree, to the floor below. Suddenly he heard a cry and shriek, like an injured bird calling for help. He slowly made his way to Jewel's cage and looked around.

That's when he realised something was terribly wrong.

* * *

><p>Rafael was sitting in the tree and Blu was in the next. He was waiting for a signal from Blu so he could and teach King Mauro a lesson.<p>

"I'll show those marmosets for birdnaping my family," he thought.

Rafael looked down to get a closer look at King Mauro, but couldn't see him.

Suddenly there was a shout. It was Pedro calling down to Nigel. Step 1 of the plan. Rafael saw Blu's signal and nodded in return.

"Here I go," said Rafael.

Rafael landed where Nigel had been moments before. The ground was moister under his feet than it usually was, as this was a denser part of the jungle.

"Where is that marmoset," Rafael looked around with no luck.

An idea suddenly came to his mind. He had forgotten all about Jewel! Rafael stepped out of the shadow of the cage, and saw Jewel curled up in one corner of it.

"Jewel!" Rafael shouted. She immediately got up and looked at him with wide eyes.

"You shouldn't be here Rafael!" Jewel said anxiously. "It's a trap! Where's Blu? Is he ok? Please tell me if he is ok!"

"Calm down Jewel, everything is going to be ok," Rafael said in a reassuring voice. "We'll get you out of here. I need to ask you something, Jewel. Do you know where my family is, and what ambush is awaiting me? Are the marmosets hiding somewhere?

"Behind you!" Jewel screamed.

Sure enough, King Mauro and an army of marmosets were waiting for him.

Rafael knew what to do. He grabbed King Mauro and flew.

"What are you going to do with me?" panicked King Mauro. "I didn't do anything wrong! Nigel forced me to do what he wanted."

Rafael didn't listen. He just kept on flying until he reached a height that suited him.

He was just about to let go of King Mauro...

"Please, Rafael"

Rafael then realised what he was doing. King Mauro was pleading for his life.

"I'm not a murder," he though. "By dropping King Mauro I'll just become as bad as Nigel. King Mauro didn't birdnap my family on purpose, Nigel forced him to."

"I'm sorry King Mauro," Rafael finally said out loud. He started to fly back down to the ground. "It wasn't your fault."

As Rafael's feet touched the ground, a sigh of relief crossed the marmosets' faces, glad that their leader was ok. Rafael let go of King Mauro and he joined the other marmosets.

"Charge!" yelled King Mauro and a grin crossed his face. The marmosets began closing in.

A look of shock crossed Rafael's face.

"What are you doing?" Rafael said worriedly. He tried to fight back, but was caught off guard. He was unprepared, as this was not part of the plan. Somewhere a bird shrieked with agony in the distance.

"I'm going to teach you birds a lesson!" King Mauro shrieked with glee. The marmosets piled on top of Rafael, and the last thing he saw was the outline of another bird.

* * *

><p>Blu, Rafael, Nico and Pedro were flying in the sky.<p>

Nico spotted Nigel somewhere below, and Rafael noticed him too.

"It's time." Rafael muttered under his breath.

"Come on, let's go," Pedro said to Nico and they flew towards Nigel.

"Pedro," said Nico anxiously, "What if the plan doesn't go accordingly?"

"Everything will go fine," Pedro said reassuringly. "Let's do this thing!"

"HEY NIGEL!" Pedro shouted. "Come and get me! Over here you silly bird!" Pedro waved his wings so Nigel could see him in the clouds.

Nico and Pedro watched as Nigel took off and zoomed towards them.

"What do we do now!" said Nico worriedly.

"Fly away!" replied Pedro. "Nigel will then chase us, giving Blu and Rafael more time to escape with Jewel!"

Nigel was nearly upon them. Nico and Pedro started to fly away from Nigel. That was the start of the chase, that was the start of step 1 of the plan.

Nigel was gaining on them. His face was twisted into a gnarled smile.

"Let's loose him in the trees below," suggested Nico.

"Good idea," replied Pedro.

Nico and Pedro flew down to the trees and started darting through the canopies. Nigel followed them, but was having trouble keeping up because he needed to swerve left and right to avoid tree trunks.

"Now this where I beat those silly birds," said Nigel.

He plucked a few of his feathers and threw them at Nico and Pedro like darts. Two found their targets, and soon Nico and Pedro were falling towards the ground. As one last action to oppose Nigel, Nico threw his bottle top hat at Nigel. It missed. Nigel caught it in mid-air and flew towards the ground just as Nico and Pedro hit it. This was not part of the plan.

"So, now the tables have turned, haven't they?" Nigel squawked at Nico and Pedro. "You thought you could fool me!" He released a hoarse cackle.

The two injured birds lay coughing and spluttering on the ground. One of Nigel's feather-darts had hit Pedro's wing, and another had hit Nico on the leg.

"What do you want with us?" pleaded Pedro. "Why did you birdnap Jewel and Rafael's children?"

"I want my revenge!" Nigel replied.

He went over to Pedro, who was lying on the ground, already in unbearable agony. Still with the bottle top in his hand, Nigel cut Pedro's side.

Pedro shrieked in agony and the jungle echoed with his cries. Fresh blood oozed from the wound and Nigel laughed. "Who's a pretty bird now?"

He hauled Pedro and Nico back to where Jewel's cage was, and to his delight, the marmosets had amassed on top over another bird. He hoped it was Blu.

"Get off him you silly animals!" Nigel said. The marmosets immediately got off and tied the bird up. It was Rafael.

"Surely, Blu must be here somewhere," Nigel though. "All his friends are here."

Sure enough, Blu stepped out of the trees, and shock crossed his face. He didn't know what to do. He saw Nico and Pedro behind Nigel, and it made him want to cry. He looked up at Jewel in the cage.

"What have I stumbled into?" Blu thought.

Nigel grinned. This was the moment he'd been waiting for.


	6. Escape?

**Escape?**

In all the commotion, up in one of the trees, Eva (Rafael's wife) and her 18 toucan kids were tied to a branch with some string. They had tried to break free many times, but all had failed, and they had eventually given up. They now stared down at Blu, Rafael, Nico and Pedro, and the situation they faced.

They watched as Nigel lunged at Blu, and how Blu moved away just in time. They had been watching ever since Blu had arrived.

"If only I could reach that piece of bark," thought Eva and she looked longingly at a sharp piece of bark just inches from her beak. "Then maybe we could have a chance at getting out of here."

The little toucans were all frightened and scared as they watched as Nigel lunged again. And again. And again.

Blu was scared and frightened. He was starting to get exhausted. He could take to the skies, but he knew Nigel would definitely beat him there.

As Nigel lunged again, Blu didn't have the energy to move away this time. Nigel grabbed him with his claws and pinned him to the ground. Nigel's beak was only a hair's breadth from Blu's throat.

"Any last words, macaw?" Nigel shrieked.

Somewhere up in the tree, Eva finally got the strength to reach the sharp piece of bark, from looking at Blu lying helplessly in Nigel's claws. She finally cut the rope that bound her to the branch, and just as Nigel was about to strike the fatal blow, she flew down and knocked him on the head. He fell like a stunned mallet, unconscious.

Blu was just beginning to recover from the shock. His life had flashed before his very eyes.

"Thank you," he whispered to Eva. "I owe you my life."

She smiled. It was the first time he had seen her smile. All the little toucans flew down from the tree as well and stood behind her.

"I'm afraid there's still one problem" pointed out Nico. "The marmosets."

They all turned to look at Rafael, but the marmosets had all gone.

"Where are they?" wondered Blu.

"I think they retreated into the woods," Rafael replied. "When they realised Nigel had fallen, they ran away."

"Cowards," shouted Eva.

They could still hear King Mauro shouting "retreat!" in the jungle.

"Let's go!" said Rafael. "Pedro is writhing in pain and Nico has an injured leg!"

"How are we supposed to transport them then?" asked Blu.

"Eva, you can carry the kids, right?" said Rafael. "I can get a big leaf from one of these trees, and Pedro can go on it. I'll grab one end of the leaf and Nico can grab the other end, and we'll fly Pedro to safety. You can fly, can't you Nico?"

Nico nodded his head, saying: "I only have an injured leg."

Blu looked at Jewel in the cage. "You guys go ahead without me," he said to Rafael, Nico, Pedro and Eva. "I need to find a way to get Jewel out of this cage."

"Ok," said Rafael, and he went to fetch the leaf.

* * *

><p>Blu waved goodbye as his friends disappeared in the distance.<p>

"Now, how am I supposed to do this," he wondered.

"Blu, I was so worried about you!" Jewel looked at him threw the bars of the cage. "You could have died!"

"I'm glad I didn't" he replied.

"You shouldn't have come here in the first place! Didn't you know it was a trap?"

"I did it for you," Blu said. "Now, do you have any idea how you got in there, so I can try to get you out?"

"There's a lock here" Jewel pointed to the side of the cage.

"Oh, ok." He flew up and observed it. He reached into the cage with his wing, and then put a feather in the lock. He twisted the feather a bit to form a series of combinations. There was a 'click' and the lock came open and the cage door swung open.

The two birds ran towards each other and hugged each other. Blu was glad to feel Jewel's soft wings again, and Jewel was glad to be back with Blu. Blu told Jewel of all the things that had happened while she was gone, which wasn't that much. Before they knew it 10 minutes had passed.

While Blu and Jewel were happily treasuring the moment, one of Nigel's eyes flicked open. He was far from being defeated. He got up and stared at the happy couple with anger in his eyes.

Blu and Jewel heard the commotion and turned around.

"You really thought you could defeat me, didn't you?" Nigel snarled.

Jewel quickly flew up to get a bit of a head start on getting away from Nigel, and Blu followed. Before long Nigel was nearly upon them.

Blu looked behind him. He looked below him. There was nowhere to go. This was it. This had to be the end.

But it wasn't. An idea suddenly popped into Jewel's mind. She looked to her right, and there laid the great mass of swirling waters known as the Ocean.

"What are you doing?" Blu shouted as Jewel veered to her right, towards the Ocean.

"No time to explain!" she replied. "Just follow me!"

Then it suddenly hit him. "Nigel won't follow us out to sea. We can truly escape now!"

And sure enough, as they entered the air directly above the ocean, Nigel stopped chasing them and started heading back.

But Blu and Jewel had forgotten about something, the Volcano.

**Well, that's the end of chapter 6!**

**Blu and Jewel finally escaped Nigel, but what adventures will they encounter out at sea?**

**The next chapter will be called **_**Lost at Sea**_**.**

**~Luigi**


End file.
